Amber Sterlington is all the rage during her first London season, and she expects to take her pick of the eligible bachelors. When she begins losing hair at an alarming rate, everything changes. Sent away from town to live in a rustic Yorkshire cottage, Amber fears that her life as she knew it is over. However, her new circumstances have many things to teach her — and at least one of her suitors has not given up on her.

I’m a bit torn on this one. On one hand, I found it compulsively readable. Kilpack does a good job of balancing Amber’s initially unlikable character with the much pleasanter Thomas (and how unusual it is for the male romantic lead to be a point of view character!). However, I was a little put off by the insta-love (at least on his part), and even after her moral transformation I felt that he deserved better. A certain scene in the garden, near the end of the book, was also off-putting. All in all, though, I think readers looking for clean Regency romances will enjoy this. ( )

Regency Romance is my guilty pleasure. Josi Kilpack did a good job of making me hate her main character, but somehow stay interested enough to want to stick around for her transformation. It was cute. ( )

I received this book as part of a FirstReads giveaway.

Over all this book is well written, and the author pays close attention to the development of her protagonists. The dialogue was good, and the plot was well developed.

That said, I don't think this book was my cup of tea. It is a Regency-Era romance with a Victorian moral plot about finding a better self through hardship and societal rejection. Again, this was a decent book, but I, personally, felt the moralizing about the main protagonist finding a better part of herself through humiliation and exile was a bit heavy-handed. And after walking with her through her misdeeds and her petulance through the first part of the book, I found it rather had to dredge up any sympathy for her at all in the latter part.

A lover of regency and historical romance would probably appreciate this book far more than I did. The writing is solid and the plot is well paced out. Again, I think this book simply wasn't really for me. ( )

4 STARS

This a Regency- era romance. The character of Amber is all the rage of London ton. but she is spoiled and not so nice. She has something happen to her that makes her a outcast. She slowly changes and my opinion kept changing with her changes.

This is full of drama, hardships, and is hard to put down. You want Amber and Thomas to find out the secrets of each other. I wanted to yell at other characters.

I can understand how Amber just wanted to hide away from everybody. The longer she did the harder it would be to reach out.

I really liked Suzanne's character. She really was a special person. She suffered lots of loss because she could see she was needed.

Thomas fell in love with Amber. He made some good life choices. I really liked how he played with his niece. He was a hard worker.

This is a clean read.

The first part of the book is London. The season of the Ton. The rest of the book is more of the England countryside.

I was given this ebook to read by Net Galley and Shadow Mountain Publishing. In return I agreed to give a honest review of A Heart Revealed and be part of it's blog tour. ( )

Unexpectedly enriching!

Miss Morton's eyes might have politely blanked when Thomas Richards started explaining cattle and economics. My eyes completely glazed over. So when Thomas Richards, yearns for a woman he could discuss all matter with, this debutante is obviously not the one.
Amber Sterlington on the other hand is the 'rage of the season'. Thomas admires her but Amber's eyes completely pass over him. He is nowhere near the heady social sphere she has set her eyes and heart upon.
So what dire problems have befallen our spoilt heroine? A mystery, and a terrible tragedy that turns Amber into a social pariah but may well have been the making of her.
Her story swiftly goes from toast of the town to a backwater existence of less than genteel poverty. The true tragedy is her family's complete lack of charity and support. Made even more obvious by the support of her maid and the gradual friendship that develops between the two women across the class boundaries.
Yet, these dire circumstances become the making of her--painfully.
I do so like Thomas, a man of sensitivity, strength and character with a gentle loving soul. His actions at Amber's shaming before the ton is heroic.
Peel back the title, reflect a while, and you realize the aptness. The more I thought about this story, the more I realized its unusual depth. This is not your usual regency romance. The treatment and betrayal of Amber, indulged darling of the ton that she is, by her family and friends is hauntingly shocking.
Unexpected. A moral tale if you will, gently done but nevertheless quitely enriching.

A NetGalley ARC ( )